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Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween, peeps! Sounds like everyone has fun plans for the evening, so that’s a plus. I am packed and ready to head to Austin for a little Nelson family Halloween bonding… it’s ok to be jealous.

In other news, when will this election be over? And I’m not just talking about the presidential election, because to be honest, it hasn’t been as big of a pain in my butt lately as the local elections. If I have to see one more commercial about how Joe Bob Smith wins the award for “biggest liar” and “most false attack on his competitor,” or about how Judge Nobody-cares one time got a speeding ticket, I am going to head butt the television set. Seriously. First of all, has anyone ever taught you, Campaign Marketing Chairman, that the more time you spend talking about someone else, the less time you are talking about the candidate you are actually trying to promote? And guess what… when it comes time to vote, I am more likely to remember the person’s name than I am to remember the bad things you said about him, so pounding his name into my brain (even if you follow it up with some version of “is a moron”) is not doing you any favors.

Phew. I feel better now that I have that off my chest.

So now, in honor of Halloween, I’m going to share with you my top 10 favorite types of candy. I was going to limit it to 5, but it’s no secret that I am big into candy, so I figured I might as well go for 10. Hope it doesn’t make you hungry!!

Top 10 Favorite types of Candy (in no particular order):

1. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - best. candy. ever. I could eat these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and feel no shame... minus the morbid obesity thing. And this also happens to be my preferred topping/"mixing" in DQ blizzards!

2. Twix - the best part is that there are 2 of them, so it's a good one to share!

3. Kit-Kat - I once told y'all about how my classy family used to stop at 7-11 every Sunday after church, and in addition to my Coke and Cheetoh Puffs, a Kit-Kat (one of those giant ones) was always a staple in my "meal."

4. Starbursts - I'm straying away from chocolate momentarily to bring you my favorite fruity candy. Red and pink are my favorites, but I really don't discriminate with candy, so I eat them all.

5. Skittles - a close second in the running for favorite fruity candy. Skittles are my most common choice from a vending machine, but I'm not sure why? Maybe because of my theory that fruity candy can't possibly be as bad for you as chocolatey candy.

6. Dark Chocolate Hershey's Kisses - I think it's well-known that I keep a well-stocked supply of these at home, and that I eat one every day with my lunch. They say dark chocolate isn't as bad for you, so that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

7. Snickers - My dear old Dad was once rumored to eat 17 of these in one day... maybe that's where I got the affinity for them? Snickers Ice Cream bars are also amazing.

8. Baby Ruth - I ate these a lot in my younger days (and somehow managed to come out under 200 pounds), but haven't had one lately. Feel free to send me a bag :)

9. Gummy Bears - I'm not sure if these count as candy, but I don't know what else they would count as? Either way, I love them, especially when I'm sick. Strange, I know.

10. Tootsie Rolls - I kid you not when I say that my mom keeps bags of these hidden around the house. She hides them for fear that my dad (the Snickers-fiend) will find them and raid her supply. I'm pretty sure she's addicted to them, and it seems she has passed that along to me.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

In case you weren’t aware, my husband has a younger sister named Shannon. She is cute and sweet and wonderful and one of my favorite people ever. She also happens to be a Chi Omega at A&M, so obviously she is awesome. I consider myself very fortunate to have her as my sissy-in-law, and always enjoy getting to spend time with her (this sounds oddly like a sorority rec letter so far...).

Recently she was so kind as to rescue me from a less-than-enjoyable hotel situation in College Station—she let me sleep in her bed and EVEN brought me snacks the next day while I was working just in case I got hungry. I know, you’re jealous, but sorry, she’s not for sale.

Shannon and I share a love for many things: good grammar, cheeseburgers, and card games to name a few. And one thing that you need to know about Shannon is that she is passionate about McAlister’s. Yes, the restaurant. You thought I was going to say her faith or something deep, right? Well she’s passionate about that, too, but I’m telling you that the kid (almost 20-year-old kid, that is) is addicted to McAlister’s.

Anyway, when I say that I got to sleep in her bed, I should probably point out the fact that she lives in the Chi O house. So if you do the math, I, a 25-year-old married, working woman, spent the night at a sorority house. And I am not ashamed! However, I was very taken aback when I realized that there were people just leaving for the night at 11 pm. Let’s please recall that by 11 pm, I have normally been asleep for 1.5 hours. And the girls that weren’t about to go out for the evening were up showering, studying, talking on the phone, or just chatting in the hall. I tell you, I was exhausted just watching it all. How is it possible that I ever had that much energy?

I felt a little silly showering in the community bathroom, but fortunately—believe it or not—the bathroom at the sorority house wasn’t terribly crowded at 6:30 in the morning, so I didn't have an audience or anything. Shocking, I know. It was definitely a fun trip down memory lane, though. Creature of habit that I am, I made sure to use the same shower stall I always used, and I even ate the same breakfast I used to eat every morning there: a bowl of Special K with red berries, but I took out the red berries. Trust me, it’s way better than just straight-up Special K. Promise.

With all that said, the whole point of this post is that Shannon is amazing and I don’t blog about her nearly enough. So here’s to you, SIL- thanks for saving me from the brown toilet and creepy furniture at the Plaza!

Monday, October 27, 2008

It appears that a REAL cold front is (finally) coming our way! Now we can participate in Fall like the rest of the country, and maybe if we’re lucky, it won’t feel like the 4th of July outside on Halloween. Fingers crossed. But I’m not sure why I care all that much, considering my days of trick-or-treating are (sadly) way behind me. Don’t worry though, that won’t stop me from consuming inappropriate amounts of candy. The best part is that we will be in Austin, and my mom gets the GOOD candy (not the cheapo dum-dums and generic bubble gum mix), so I will be snacking in style.

I have had a few memorable Halloweens in my life… in 3rd grade, I had the pleasure of vomiting in the bathroom while my friends were trick-or-treating. A case of the flu paired with pizza for dinner made for quite an unpleasant evening. Don’t people usually spend Halloween puking in the bathroom in their college years rather than elementary school? Anyway, I also remember that my “long-term” boyfriend broke up with me on Halloween in 6th grade. What a jerk. Apparently he decided some other girl named Jordan was cuter and that he was no longer interested in me. I probably made sure to tell him she was way too popular for a guy named “Thad” before letting him go on his merry way. And PS, THAD, Jordan is a boy’s name.

I don’t remember ever having a very impressive costume. However, I do remember that I decided to be a gumball machine in 5th grade. I conveniently already had a rainbow striped turtleneck (because who didn’t in 1993?), so I just safety pinned some colorful balloons to my shirt and put a giant sign on my back that said “25 cents.” Allison, tactful and loving sister that she was, informed me that I looked more like a “cheap, colorful hooker” than a gumball machine. Thanks for the wise piece of advice, sis :o).

We are throwing a baby shower for my big sister on November 1st of this year, so while helping my mom pass candy out to the neighborhood kids, we will likely spend our Halloween evening this year baking desserts for the shower. Either way sugar is involved, so I’m fine with it. And since we’ll be in Austin, we will get to see my cute niece and nephew in their Peter Pan and Tinkerbell costumes… yes, I will post pictures. Oh, and we get to see Allison & Wade’s puppy, Rocky, dressed up as a bumble bee. We thought about getting Noah and Buster costumes, but quickly realized that they would be more likely to eat them than wear them. Maybe next year.

What about you, friend/family member/blog stalker? What are your Halloween plans for 2008?

1. I am a little behind from last week and don’t have time to write a real post that requires much creativity or thought.2. I saw it on Angela’s blog and apparently I’m a blog-klepto because I felt compelled to steal her idea!3. I have been a little hard on Brian lately and think it’s worth giving him a shout-out :o)

All about Brian:

1. He is sitting in front of the TV, what is he watching?ESPN, aka: his other girlfriend2. You are out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?Interesting fact: Brian does not eat salad, and that is in large part because he doesn’t like dressing of any kind (or condiments for that matter). Nope, not even ketchup.3. Whats one food he doesn’t like?salad!4. You go out to a bar, what does he order?You’d be surprised to learn this, but my Youth Minister husband doesn’t go to bars a lot- ha ha5. Where did he go to High School?Strake Jesuit Preparatory Academy (snob :o)6. What size shoe does he wear?10 or 10.5, I believe7. If he were to collect anything, what would it be?useless knowledge in his brain OR socks… or boxers—he has about a million of them8. What is his favorite sandwich?Ham & cheese- plain and dry!9. What would he eat every day if he could?Apple pie10. What is his favorite cereal?I think it’s Fruity Pebbles but he never eats those? He switches it up on a regular basis and right now he’s on a Corn Flakes kick11. What would he never wear?a dress12. What is his favorite sports team?hmm, that’s hard… I’d say the Astros, but he is also a big fan of: the Aggies, the Texans, the Rockets, and the Colts (I think)13. Who will he vote for?He already did... I'll let you guess. I'll give you a hint... it wasn't Obama.14. Who is his best friend?Me!15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?Nag? Complain? Criticize? Ha ha I’m an awesome wife, I promise16. How many states has he lived in?One, the greatest in the nation- Texas!17. What is his heritage?Louisianan – ha ha18. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake is it?Yellow cake with chocolate frosting… or apple pie!19. Did he play sports in high school?Not so much, a little bit of baseball20. What could he spend hours doing?Watch ESPN! I would normally say play video games (ditto, Angela), but he has kind of given them up lately?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My apologies for the delay on the post about our weekend at Lost Pines! I know you were all on the edge of your seats with your eyes glued to your computer screen, repeatedly clicking “refresh” in hopes that the post would appear, so I hope you’ll forgive me.

The resort was really nice—there is a lot to do there, but since we had a very pregnant sister with us, we didn’t try out any of the adventurous activities. Instead we stuck to what we do best—eating, walking, and shopping. Eating and walking took place mostly at the resort (they very cruelly offered a morbid-obesity-inducing buffet at every meal, just so you know), but we actually ventured out to the town of Bastrop to do a little shopping.

I use the term “shopping” loosely, as we mostly just walked in and out of antique shops without actually buying anything… other than the two giant cookies we purchased and quickly consumed at the end of our visit into town. I found it amusing, by the way, that Bastrop’s slogan (or something) is “the most historic small town in Texas.” First of all, how do you measure how historic something is? It can’t be in age, because certainly there are other towns in Texas that have been around as long or longer than the ‘strop (as I like to call it). And it can’t be in memorable events, because certainly that’s kind of subjective. So I’m just going to have to take their word on it, I guess!

The weekend was too short, but we still had a good time and I look forward to making it an annual event, even though I haven’t run this by the rest of the Nelson ladies yet :o). For now, it’s back to reality. Boo hiss to that.

Here’s a little something that you might find amusing: I recently sent Brian a text and pretended to cuss at him (don’t worry, he knew I was kidding) by inserting a lot of random symbols (example: !#@$%). Well because my phone is a know-it-all and T-9 thinks it can read my mind, now EVERY time I try to type an exclamation mark (!) in my text messages, that whole string of scandalous looking symbols shows up with it. Example: (almost sent to Brian) “On my way home. Hope church is going well !#@$%”

Awesome. Fortunately, I think I have deleted the excess symbols enough times to where my smarty pants phone now knows that the exclamation point can (and should) stand alone. I guess God was getting back at me for my off-color sense of humor :o)

Speaking of that song, I’d like to share a little something with you: when Allison and I were younger, we often put ourselves in charge of recording the family’s outgoing answering machine message. I am particularly proud of the message that we recorded to the tune of “Whoomp! There It Is.” It went a little something like this: “WHOOMP there it is. Upside down and inside out, we’re ‘bout to tell all you folks what it’s all about. Leave a message after the tone and we’ll call you back when we get home. Thanks, bye!” Genius, isn’t it?

So anyway, Kate (fellow WHS Chap… there’s no one like ’01, ha ha) tagged me to do the post below, so enjoy!

6 things that make me happy:1.) Seeing Noah and Buster run to the fence to greet me when I pull up to our house after work.

2.) NOT setting an alarm when I go to bed on Friday nights! (I think this is on everyone’s list)

3.) When Brian surprises me by cleaning the house and/or going to the grocery store while I’m at work on Friday morning so that I don’t have to deal with it during the weekend.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Ok so this was one of those situations I knew I had to blog about as soon as it happened. I’ll make it brief (ha, yeah right), as I’m about to hit the road for our mom/daughter weekend (hooray!) in Bastrop.

So Brian and I went on our weekly grocery pilgrimage to the “nicer” (I use this term loosely) Walmart this afternoon. While we were waiting for the disgruntled lady at the deli (Why are they always so angry? Besides the fact that they slice meat for a living?) to slice my turkey, we decided to peruse the baked goods. Never a good idea. Brian was, of course, tempted almost instantly by one of the ready-to-eat apple pies, and so we put it on our basket. Because what’s a trip to the store without a good impulse buy? So please note here that the price of the pie, according to the shelf, was $2.98.

Fast forward to the end of our Walmart journey where we wait in line for 7 or 8 years to check out. As we are loading our cart and about to walk away, I notice that we were charged $4 for the pie. I pointed it out to Brian (who, let’s be honest, couldn’t care less because hey, he was going to eat a pie), and we went back to the bakery to see what the listed price was. Yep, $2.98.

So what would YOU have done next?

Well if you are a little bit ridiculous and already hold a slight grudge against Wal-mart, then you would have hopped in the customer service line and spent 10 minutes waiting to get your $1.02 back. Yes, I felt a little silly. Yes, the customer service lady gave me an, “are you serious?” look. And yes, my husband mustered up all the self-restraint he had and refrained from telling me what a nut job I am. And guess what—I DID get my $1.02 back. And I felt much better. The end.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I have a problem. My newly purchased hairspray smells like my dad’s deodorant. Don’t get me wrong, my dad always (ok usually) smells very nice, but I don’t exactly leave the house each day with a deep desire to smell like my dad’s armpits. I think you can probably understand why not.

I am completely responsible for this poor purchase, as I deliberately chose the cheapest hairspray I could find. And when I say cheap, I’m talking 98 cents. I didn’t even spend a full dollar on it (well, before tax anyway). So in reality, I probably shouldn’t be complaining that my less-than-a-buck “White Rain” hairspray smells more like white butt. Forgive the imagery. It’s just that I don’t use hairspray all that often, and it’s only one or two sprays when I do, so I had a hard time justifying spending much more than that. Stupid, I know.

Anyway, I am too cheap and too prideful to just go to the store and pick out another bottle and let this one go to waste. I have considered asking Allison if she wants the almost-full bottle, because she is not usually one to turn down something free. However, she is also not usually one who wants her hair to smell like my dad’s armpits either, so I am guessing she won’t take me up on the offer. I knew I should have just stuck with the flowery-smelling Suave that has served me so well in the past.

And these are the modern-day “issues” –not the economy or the presidential debate—that occupy my brain on a daily basis. Makes me sound smart, right? I thought so.

And as long as I’m not trying to impress you with my deep and insightful brain, I’ll go ahead and move on to the next topic: Project Runway. Could that ending have been any more predictable? Probably not. I guess Leanne deserved to win, even if her bangs are in desperate need of a cut. But in my opinion, all of her pieces looked exactly the same and she kind of over-did it with the “wave” theme. But they were certainly more appealing to the general public than Kenley’s “revenge of the 80s” line, so I will concede victory to Leanne without a fight. Now I have to find something else to look forward to on Wednesday nights while Brian’s at church—suggestions?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I am a big believer in the power of accountability, so I am going to ask all of you for your help. I have been feeling VERY tempted lately to listen to Christmas music. My Christmas cd’s (or “jams,” as I like to call them) are conveniently situated in the front pockets of my cd holder, and it has required great self-control on my part not to pull out Amy Grant’s Home for Christmas album and pop it in for a little listen. But I know in my heart that it is not really acceptable to listen to said music until November 28th (the day after Thanksgiving—let’s give the turkey his proper respect). Please pray for me.

So I discovered last week that some of y’all actually DO watch Project Runway this season! I have been looking forward to tonight’s episode ever since Part 1 of the finale aired last week. I know that Kenley has had a little bit of an attitude this season, but I must admit that I’m rooting for her to win. I think she’s cute and I like her style, so I’m going to disregard the fact that she back-sasses Heidi and Tim on a far too regular basis. At least you have to give her props for defending her work, right? Anyone? Ok moving along.

(Please forgive me, by the way, as I have no intentions of making this post cohesive or well-connected.)

I don’t normally blog about products I enjoy, but I recently came across one that I have to share with you. I was in Williams Sonoma not long ago, strolling through the store with my friend, Chrissy, and trying to ignore the fact that their much of their cookware costs more than a month’s rent for most people. And though that may be true, I still love going into the store, in large part because their food samples are amazing. Trust me, I know this because I consumed 3 of the caramel filled acorn-shaped pancake bites while I was there.

By the way, I love how everyone walks by the samples casually, acting like they hardly even notice the delicious, FREE baked goods sitting out for all the world to see/smell. Then they linger nearby and wait until one of the employees offers the sample, and then respond with, “Oh! I didn’t even see that chocolate cupcake sitting out. I guess I could have a bite since you offered.” LIAR. We all know it’s the only reason you went into the store anyway. But I digress.

So while we were there, we found this:

It’s a lotion and hand soap set, but if I’m going to be honest here, knowing that didn’t stop me from wanting to eat it. I kept re-smelling my hand after I put some of it on (casually, of course, so people didn't think I was a hand-smelling freak of nature) throughout the day and wishing I had purchased it. But it’s probably a good thing I didn’t, because we all know how that would end: Brian would come home to find me passed out on the bathroom floor after having eaten some of the lotion.

With all that to say, if anyone was thinking about getting me a little gift for Halloween/Thanksgiving/Fall/no reason at all, I would gladly accept the Williams Sonoma Pumpkin Spice soap and lotion from you with open arms because that’s the kind of friend I am :o).

And because (a) I just over-dosed on gummy bears and (b) this post is going nowhere fast, I’m going to stop right here. Have a good one!

Monday, October 13, 2008

So if someone that knew me made a list of 100 adjectives to describe me, I can almost guarantee you that the word “spontaneous” would not be on there. I am nothing if not predictable and a planner. However, once in a blue moon, an occasion arises in which I get a little crazy and do something spontaneous. Examples:

(I may or may not have sat staring off into space for 5 full minutes before actually coming up with any examples.)- bringing a Lean Pocket for lunch instead of my normal sandwich-apple-chips meal- foregoing my Biggest Loser work-out dvd and walking in place while watching the news instead- ordering a Sprite at dinner instead of a water

Ha, I am such a huge loser. I would love to add some more exciting examples on there, but because I make it a point not to lie to my readers, I can’t. But anyway, this weekend I am proud to say that I did something truly spontaneous! Brian and I had been planning to have a pretty low-key weekend at home. Well on Friday, while exchanging my normal e-mails with my sis, I discovered that she was a little down in the dumps. As is customary, she suggested that if I would come visit her (and bring her ice cream, mind you), then it would cheer her up. I resisted at first because the practical side of me only considered the cost of gas and the length of time we would have to spend in the car. But then something extraordinary happened…

I considered the alternative. Wow, crazy, I know. I called Brian on my way home from work and ran the idea by him. It didn’t take much to convince him (he is not exactly as stuck in his ways as I am, if you can believe it), and so to Austin we went! We were only there for 24 hours, but it was well worth it. In addition to hanging out with the Olivers (and the Days, briefly!), we also got to spend a LOT of quality time with Rocky (their new pup). Most of that quality time involved Rocky attempting to bite off pieces of Brian’s ears, but he was so cute that we (ok, I) didn’t mind :o).

And of course we managed to stop by my older sister’s house, during which I played a round of My Little Ponies with Emma and learned that Brown thought my name was “Yucky.” Our game of My Little Ponies went a little something like this: Emma didn’t want me to pull any of the ponies out (that was her job) and I wasn’t allowed to make them fly or talk (that was obviously not realistic). All of the ponies basically stood next to each other in silence for a minute or two (taking in the “moment,” I guess). And then Emma put them all back into her bag and looked at me very seriously and asked, “Amanda, will you go get me some grapes?” I can see how all of that rigorous pony-playing would have worked up an appetite.

So anyway, we headed back to Richmond on Saturday night and spent Sunday doing the usual end of the weekend activities. We DID make some time to go pick out pumpkins, and I am proud to say that we now have the perfect pumpkin family living on our front porch. Let’s hope they don’t rot and start oozing pumpkin juice prematurely like they did last year. But who knows, this lovely sauna-like weather we have been experiencing just might cause the poor pumpkins to melt altogether. Yum.

I realize that it’s Monday and it’s a little early to be talking about the upcoming weekend, but that’s not going to stop me. This weekend, my sisters, my mom, and I are all going to the Lost Pines Hyatt in Bastrop for a girls’ weekend. We have never done this before, but thought it would be a fun way to escape from reality for a weekend and spend some time together. I would be perfectly happy if we did nothing but sleep all weekend, but I realize that that doesn’t make me sound very social or fun to be around, so I guess I can manage to participate in a few activities that require me to be awake. Oh, the sacrifices I make for my family :o).

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

I know, I know, you have been dying to know how I’ve been doing since my woe-is-me post about my medical concerns on Monday. Well you’ll be happy to hear that I survived my flu shot with just a sore arm and a band-aid to show for it. I really wish the band-aid was neon or had Dora the Explorer or Disney princesses on it, but apparently those designs didn’t get approved by the top dogs in corporate, so I will have to settle for my little flesh-colored circular one. And I can assure you that I will keep it on well past the point of necessity (because let’s face it, it probably stopped being necessary around 60 seconds after I received the shot, if not sooner), for at least a few more days. I will admit that keeping it on is all mental, but I would really prefer to keep the “wound” covered up just in case… well… just in case. Ok? Back off.

I thought it was amusing, by the way, that as party favors for the flu shot fest 2k8, they had little packets of Advil for you to take with you. Whatever happened to getting a cool sticker or a piece of candy as a reward? Next year, I'm going to a pediatrician for my flu shot. Now they know how to reward someone properly for enduring a needle into the arm (sorry for the visual, sis).

And as far as the acid reflux goes, I don’t feel as gross as I did on Monday, but I am still just feeling off. I feel hungry and full at the same time, and my throat is making its really embarrassing growling noises incessantly throughout the day. And let’s not forget the random painful hiccups. Or the nausea. And to answer your question, no, I am not pregnant! If any doctors or wannabe doctors happen to be reading this, please advise on how to effectively battle this condition I’ve developed. Thanks.

I watched the presidential debate (not so much because I was interested, but more so I could be in the know… is that wrong?) last night and all I have to say is this: those peeps need to go back to kindergarten and re-learn about taking turns. It was awkward enough watching them back-sass and disobey the moderator on the tv screen, so I can only imagine how awkward the “town hall” participants felt.

And something else about the debate… you know how these days they are always trying to diversify movies, text books, commercials, etc. to include different races and genders? Well that’s great and all (besides the fact that it often seems awkwardly forced), but did anyone else notice last night that almost every person in that room was a white male? How very 21st century of them. And because I am not into political banter outside of arguing with my loveable brother-in-law, I am going to end my ramblings on the debate right here.

And onto more relevant topics: Brian and I are going to go to a pumpkin patch this weekend! He just keeps bugging me about how badly he wants to go pick out the perfect pumpkin family for our front porch, and frankly, I’m tired of listening to him whine, so I agreed to go. Or maybe it didn’t happen like that… you be the judge. Regardless, we are going to make sure to get a mommy pumpkin, a daddy pumpkin, and 2 baby pumpkins (one for Noah and one for Buster, duh). But in reality, Buster and Noah will go nowhere near these pumpkins because we all know that they would eat them or otherwise destroy them in a matter of seconds. Such sweet puppies, aren’t they?

We have no intention of carving the pumpkins (or at least I don’t) because (a) it’s too messy for my liking and (b) it makes them rot faster. Plus, once you carve them, they are officially Halloween pumpkins, and therefore it is not really acceptable to leave them out past October 31st, whereas with un-carved pumpkins, you can leave them out as part of your Fall decorations well into November (until they rot). And on that note, I don’t think my parents threw out their pumpkins from last year until May. Isn’t that disturbing and impressive at the same time? They hadn’t rotted yet! How is that possible?

Well I think that’s all for today. I am pretty pumped about watching Project Runway tonight, but I have yet to find anyone else (besides my poor husband) that has been watching this season, so I won’t share my opinions and projections for the finale. Happy Wednesday, peeps!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Peeps, I am not sure if it’s Monday or if it’s my body revolting against me, but I am just not feeling up to the challenge of being awake and having to use my brain today. We had a very productive weekend (my favorite kind!) and as a result, didn’t spend as much time relaxing as we might normally do on a weekend. And as such, I am still tired from last week!

I don’t usually have to make myself to do lists because my brain is kind of like a living organizer, but I had so many things I wanted to accomplish this past weekend that I actually wrote them down. And I’m pleased to inform you that we knocked out all but one item—watching our latest Netflix movie (“The Bucket List,” for those of you who are dying to know). I’m sure we’ll get to that this weekend, so no worries. And lucky for Brian, I am planning on adding another item to the to do list: shopping at the outlet malls. He loves me, I promise. :)

So anyway, I managed to eat my weight in junk food this weekend (no surprise there) and I am now being punished for it. I think I might have blogged about this before, but I am pretty sure I am being plagued by acid reflux disease. I know it’s pretty common, but it is making me pretty miserable. So without getting into the details concerning my symptoms, I will just let you know that Allison is also suffering from the same thing. She is going to see a doc about it tomorrow, so I figure since we’re identical twins, I’ll wait and see what her diagnosis is before rushing to make an appointment for myself :o) Oh the benefits of sharing a womb…

One thing she can’t (and would never offer to) sub in for me for, however, is, for flu shot day tomorrow. Yes, my company is very kindly offering them for free, which is great, but it also seems really crazy that I am willingly signing up to have someone poke me with a needle. Anyway, my mom is and always has been a big advocate of the flu shot, and I will say that the one year I didn’t get a shot, I got the flu, so I’m not taking my chances!

Are you bored by this post yet? Because I am. Let’s move onto townie news. You need to go read this article right away. But in case you don’t feel like navigating away from my blog OR are not literate, I’ll summarize it for you: a statue was recently constructed in front of Richmond’s city hall to commemorate the city’s mayor, Hilmar Moore. His accomplishment? Being the longest continuously serving mayor in the United States. He has been the Mayor of Richmond for 59 years! That is ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome, that is. Makes me proud to be a townie, that’s for sure.

I also feel like I should mention the dogs since I haven’t really talked about them lately. They have been digging holes in the backyard at a higher rate of speed than ever. These are not just little dips in the yard, people. I’m talking like half a foot or more in depth. Yesterday I tripped when I accidentally stepped in one of the craters, only to stumble forward and land my foot in another crater. Fortunately, I avoided any injuries, but it was a close call. Brian then forced Buster to lick my hurt foot out of feigned sympathy. I know that inside, he was laughing that his trap had worked.

I am really not sure why they are digging, other than boredom with their normal activities (wrestling, chasing squirrels, spilling their food all over the yard, playing in their water bowls). Either that, or they hate us and are punishing us for being bad parents. I’m going to go with boredom so that I won’t feel as guilty. Regardless, it is not making for a very attractive backyard, so please don’t judge us if our landscaping consists of dead ferns and some holes in the ground. Classy.

Also, (we think) Buster is about to celebrate his first birthday! Because we found him stranded by a dumpster, we can’t say for sure, but that’s the vet’s best guess. We decided to celebrate his birthday on October 31st, and Noah’s on December 31st. So maybe we will throw them a joint birthday party in November? Keep an eye out for your evite. Party activities include the above-listed: (wrestling, chasing squirrels, spilling their food all over the yard, playing in their water bowls), so bring your game face.

Well that’s all for now. Time for me to go fight back the urge to vomit all over my keyboard. I hate you, acid reflux. Or whatever is wrong with me. Peace out, trouts!